After embarking on an MA at Queen’s, he married Kate Ireland in 1964 [5] and immediately left Belfast for the United States, where for several years he taught English literature at Hamilton College and Cornell University in upstate New York [6].

Parker’s playwriting career began in earnest when his play Spokesong was the runaway success of the 1975 Dublin Theatre Festival [8].

By this time, Parker had also established himself as a television dramatist, with the BBC Play for Today series airing Catchpenny Twist in 1977, the same year it premiered on stage.

Heavenly Bodies, commissioned by the Birmingham Rep, centred on the 19th-century theatrical entrepreneur Dion Boucicault and focused on the complexities of Irish national identity and literary recognition.

His partnership with television writer Lesley Bruce helped to make the last seven years of his life the most satisfying, both personally and creatively.

Pentecost was received with a mixture of admiration [17] and scepticism [18] —in the wake of the Hunger Strikes and ongoing atrocities in Northern Ireland, it was hard to imagine the positive future suggested in the play.

Previous recipients of the award include: Conor McPherson, Mark O'Rowe, Enda Walsh, Eugene O'Brien, Gerald Murphy, Lisa McGee and Christian O'Reilly.

Stage: Spokesong (1975) The Actress and the Bishop (1976) Catchpenny Twist (1977) Kingdom Come (an Irish/Caribbean musical, 1978) Nightshade (1980) Pratt’s Fall (1983) Northern Star (1984) Heavenly Bodies (1986) Pentecost (1987) Television: Catchpenny Twist (1977) I’m A Dreamer Montreal (1979) The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner (1981) Iris in the Traffic, Ruby in the Rain (1981) Joyce in June (1982) Radio Pictures (1985) Lost Belongings (1986) Film: Blue Money (1984) Radio: Speaking of Red Indians (1967) Minnie and Maisie and Lily Freed (1971) Self Portrait (1971) Requiem (1973) The Iceberg (1975) I’m a Dreamer, Montreal (1977) The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner (1979) The Traveller (1985) Poetry: The Casualty’s Meditation (1966) Maw (1967) Novel: Hopdance (2017) 1976 Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright 1979 Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for I’m a Dreamer, Montreal (television version) 1981 Giles Cooper Award for The Kamikaze Ground Staff Reunion Dinner (radio version) 1987 Harvey’s Award for Best New Play for Pentecost The stage plays are published by Methuen Drama.